Mel Tillis Albums Ranked

Lonnie Melvin Tillis (August 8, 1932 – November 19, 2017) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although he recorded songs since the late 1950s, his biggest success occurred in the 1970s as part of the outlaw country movement, with a long list of Top 10 hits. Tillis’ biggest hits include “I Ain’t Never”, “Good Woman Blues”, and “Coca-Cola Cowboy”. On February 13, 2012, President Barack Obama awarded Tillis the National Medal of Arts for his contributions to country music. He also won the Country Music Association Awards’ most coveted award, Entertainer of the Year. Tillis was a member of the Grand Ole Opry, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Country Music Hall of Fame. Additionally, he was known for his stutter, which did not affect his singing voice. His daughter is 1990s country hitmaker Pam Tillis. Here are all of Mel Tillis albums ranked.

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5. Best Way I Know How

“As with all Tillis, this is extremely high quality country gold. For me, I was just the tiniest bit disappointed, since there are no real “stand-out” tracks. However he was at the very pinnacle of his career, and there’s really no bad songs here.”

4. Stomp Them Grapes

“This album, along with Mel’s “Sawmill” are great examples of forgotten masterworks of country music. This album is simply outstanding, with lots of 5-star gems. Known for the #2 country hit “Midnight Me And the Blues” and the #3 hit “Stomp Them Grapes”; but loaded with a slew of other greats “Scarlet Wings”, “My Side Of Life”, “Somebody Gave Lucy A Drink” and the haunting “Last Time”…”

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3. She’ll Be Hangin’ ‘Round Somewhere

“Great LP from Mel in his prime. Includes his standard “Heart Over Mind” on Side A, and Side B is near flawless. The title track is one of the all time great drinking songs.”

2. Heart Over Mind

“I just became consciously aware that Mel Tillis didn’t only write several Ray Price and Webb Pierce hits (who doesn’t know that), but also “Emotions” for Brenda Lee – that guy keeps me impressed. This first album contains several of his own versions of those hit songs… great classic Country and his voice is good!”

1. Sawmill

“This is a honky tonk hammer! A tear drenched, beer quenched, intense, tear-flicking’ teeth-gritting’ masterpiece…. A country powerhouse of the 1970’s, Tillis is one of the all-time honky tonk jukebox greats. A songwriter for Webb Pierce, Ray Price, Charley Pride, Bobby Bare, Waylon Jennings, et al, he eventually rose to fame as a performer collecting several dozen top 10 hits for himself. And while he’s got a huge archive of 4-star albums, this was his finest era.”